Contact
by WinterPrince
Summary: A Gym-Leader-to-be, a thief, an E4 Apprentice, a King, and a Shadow are pulled into a plot that spans regions, centuries, and dimensions when an ancient enemy begins to worm his way back into power.


**Hey! OK, so this is the first story I've really posted, so there are a few things I should let y'all know about first.**

 **1\. I don't know how committed I am to this story. Reviews will help, but... I've got a job, I've got school, and I've got another story I would like to work on, so updates will be sporadic. Yes. Definitely sporadic.**

 **2\. Like I said, first story, so it may take a while to get in the rhythm. And I may not have everything planned out, but... We'll see.**

 **3\. This will be a long story. Very long. With so much plot, references, and backstory, so... yeah.**

 **4\. I'll figure out how to indents later... maybe just straight upload the document instead of cut and paste? Anyone know?**

 **And I basically skipped over Tristan's section and ?'s section down below because I was tired and lazy, but I'll devote more time to them later... They are not really important at the beginning. But please review! So, without further ado, my story!**

 **Thanks!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.**

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Chapter 1

Pokemon League, Unova – Grimsley's Quarters

Grimsley strode confidently down the corridor, completely caught up in his thoughts. He had seen this coming of course, read the signs, but he had assumed he had at least eight months to prepare… But then, with the increased contact, it was completely unavoidable. Personally, he was amazed no one else had seen it, but then, few others were gamblers of his caliber. Others couldn't seem to understand that gambling required just as much skill and planning as it did luck, maybe even more. He shook his head. _Ah, well. At least you're in a unique position; for once, you'll do the right thing AND stand to profit when it's all over._

He still wished he could share his information and plans with his fellow elite four members, but he and Alder had agreed they wouldn't tell Shauntal or Marshal. They had been planning on reading in Caitlin, because she would probably side with them, and she was least likely to have been compromised. But then Alder had needed to go on his trip and promptly disappeared, and Iris had taken his place, at which point Grimsley had gone into Full Caution Mode; after all, Iris was just too young and naïve to understand. If only Black hadn't turned down the Title… Twice. He would have been a good ally… _Get with it, Grimsley,_ he told himself, _You know the worst way to distract yourself from the current hand is to imagine the one you could have been dealt._ OK, so what if the gambling metaphors he used on challengers had leaked into his normal speech. He couldn't help that.

Having finally reached his destination, he entered the passcode on the electronic lock attached to a solid door at the end of the hall. The lock beeped, the light turned green, and the lock disengaged as he stepped through the doorway. Inside, the room was dark, as usual, and the chandelier hanging from the ceiling cast flickering yellow light around the room that seemed to dance around the room as it swung. This room, unlike most others in his section of the palace residing under the league, was not lavishly decorated, having been furnished with only a bed, a chest of drawers, and a machine for healing Pokemon. Currently, it held six pokeballs, and added to the light of the chandelier a pale blue glow.

A figure sat up in the bed as soon as Grimsley stepped through the door, showing itself to be a 19-year-old boy. He blinked tiredly, then said, slightly waspishly, "Do you mind? I was trying to sleep."

Grimsley rolled his eyes. "Good _Afternoon_ to you too, Shane. Anyway, I warned you; it'll be had to adjust to a normal timeframe if you insist on being nocturnal. Now get out of bed. It's time."

Shane, who had been about to roll over and go back to sleep, snapped up and jumped out of bed. Grabbing his shirt off the chest of drawers, he strode over to Grimsley, and said, "You're serious?" Grimsley only nodded, then left the room for Shane to prepare.

Shane darted into his adjoining bathroom, took a cold shower, and then went back into his room, dressed in jeans with a black t-shirt and a black hat. He took the six pokeballs out of the machine opened them all, releasing his full team into the room. He smiled at them, then echoing Grimsley, he said, "It's time."

The Pokemon acted exactly like their trainer, with glee covered in a thin veneer of 'professionalism.' Shane returned five of them to their pokeballs, but kept his Bisharp out. Together, the two strode out of the room, down the hall, and into Grimsley's kitchen. Shane grabbed his instructions off the table, then he and his partner took the lift to the surface. They exchanged a look of excitement. The world was about to change…

Mahogany Town, Johto – Mahogany Town Gym

Allison was angry, but then, this wasn't exactly a rare occurrence. If she heard the phrase 'But she's just a teenage girl' again, she was going to… Whitney was _twelve freakin' years old_ , for heaven's sake! But the residents of Mahogany Town couldn't seem to accept their new gym leader, maybe because she had traveled all the way from Cerulean City, in Kanto.

When Pryce had been defeated by Gold in the Ilex Forest, she had vied for his title, but apparently she hadn't made the cut. Then, when he reappeared at the Sinjoh ruins, things got complicated. Thinking that he would attempt to regain his position, the Gym Leader of Mahogany, a water-type user named Derrick, resigned. When it became known that Pryce was not interested in being a Gym Leader again, Derrick tried to rescind his resignation, but the Pokemon League made it very clear that he was not allowed. Thus, they had to go through the process of selecting a new gym leader all over again. This time, however, Allison had made it to the top three, along with Derrick and a steel-type expert named Raoul. He was a bit of a conundrum… He was fat, slightly old, with a bald spot on the back of his head. He didn't look like much to Allison, but apparently he could battle and coordinate with his team mates well, not that she had seen it. None of the gym candidates had seen the others battle, as the previous tests had been in front of a panel of judges. But now there were only the top three left, so battle it would be. There had been a fourth, a fire type user named Courtney, but she had resigned due to personal issues, so one of the candidates would sit out.

One of the officials stuck his hand into a box containing slips of paper, one for each of them. Allison muttered under her breath, "Please, please, please, please…."

The official unfolded the paper, and read in a high tenor, "Derrick."

Allison's Gallade, name Pryzor, took her arm and physically restrained her from punching Derrick's smug look off his face. After a furious mental conversation that all of her team participated in, they finally convinced her that punching his lights out was not an appropriate way to handle an inter-personal conflict (not that she couldn't – she and Pryzor were close for a reason), and she fixed a smile/grimace onto her face and stepped onto the battlefield with Raoul. The official rattled off the rules, which Allison only barely heard, but they were the standard restrictions for fights such as these: no items, no healing, and the first to have a Pokemon completely faint lost, no matter how many were in reserve.

She and Raoul nodded to each other, and then let out their first Pokemon. After two flashes of light, Allison was left with a dismayed look on her face – her Xatu Shanna was facing a Bastiodon, evidently named Steve. Shaking it off, she established a mental link with Shanna, and gave the first command.

Shanna responded, focusing briefly to make an illusory copy of herself dance around the Bastiodon, distracting it with Substitute. Allison bit her lip; she knew that Shanna's flying type was weak to Steve's rock, but she could only hope that her team mate could hold out long enough for what needed doing. She gave a second command, taking advantage of the Bastiodon's confusion.

The entire field went silent as Shanna used Swords Dance, until Raoul started laughing out loud. "Swords Dance? That boosts physical power! Xatus fight with their minds! How did you get this far, anyway? Steve, use rock slide." With one volley of rocks, Shanna's copy disappeared, and her Xatu was left undefended.

"Okay, Shanna! How's it looking?" Her flyer gave a mental affirmative, and Allison smiled to herself. That was a technique they had spent ages on, but it was well worth the effort. She didn't say anything this time – Shanna knew what to do.

Her bird used Swords Dance again, as another volley of rocks came from Steve. She could hear the crowd muttering, wondering why she didn't switch, or at least do something effective, but she only shook it off. She had hoped her Xatu could get another boost in, but Shanna wouldn't be able to take another Rock Slide, so she whispered her command.

Steve launched another Rock Slide, just as Shanna completed her move. When Pryzor popped out of his ball and took the attack, Allison laughed out loud – the look on Raoul's face was priceless. One Drain Punch was all it took – Shanna's boosted physical power, transferred to Pryzor, was more than enough to overwhelm Steve's defenses, and the type advantage bonus worked well with it. She flashed a sunny smile at Raoul as the official called her the winner, and she sauntered off the field to sit next to Derrick. She flashed him the same smile as he asked, "So, how'd you do it?"

She looked back at him and said, "Why don't you tell me?"

He paused, and then said, "Well, you used Substitute to scout out Steve's power – that's how you knew she could take a hit to get in another Swords Dance. And you never intended to use the boost for Xatu – it was always for Gallade. And you weren't caught unawares by the initial match-up; you planned it, because Gallades are too defensively frail to take to many physical attacks. Sending him out by himself was riskier."

Allison smirked at him, and simply said, "See you in the finals."

Saffron City, Kanto – Silph Company Headquarters

Alexander smirked. He relayed his thoughts to his team, saying, "Four guards, two human, one Camerupt, and one Electivire. I just need Shadow. The rest of you stay on your jobs."

After receiving confirmation and storing the requested partner in his, he slipped through the window, and after releasing the Absol, walked right past the guards, invisible. He turned to Shadow and said, "You know, some days, I think what it would be like if I had a normal team. Then I get bored..."

Shadow grinned, "You would."

Smiling, Alex asked his team,"Is everyone in position?

"I'm near the roof, ready to go."

"Prism and I are on the ground, ready to lay down cover fire if necessary."

"I am in the network – their firewalls couldn't have held Regal back when he was just hatched."

"I'm on the other side of the building, covering your tracks."

Alex smiled, and said, "All right. Z-Ball, the door please."

His Porygon-Z, currently embedded in the building's security system, responded, "You now have full administrative access. The sensors, cameras, and other features will react automatically when they sense your Pokegear approaching."

Alex asked, "Will that leave a trace?"

Z-Ball huffed. "If I was a newly formed Porygon who was whimsically dancing through the first system I encountered, maybe."

Grinning, Alex replied, "Chill, dude."

"My sensors tell me that my internal temperature is well within the normal range. Should I run a diagnostic to confirm these are working properly?"

Alex shook his head, and replied, "No. I'm sure you are not malfunctioning. Is this it?"

Z-Ball responded, "Yes. The device is guarded by a manual lock after all the electronic countermeasures. Are you adequately prepared to pick the lock? My records indicate you have only spent a total of 23.4 minutes practicing this week."

Rolling his eyes, Alex said, "I'm fine." Traversing the path laid out for him by the Porygon-Z, Alex made his way to the room that stored his target. Quickly picking the lock (and shooting a mental glare at Z-Ball), Alex tucked the device into his bag and exited with Shadow. They walked right out the door and down the streets of Saffron, and joined Prism and Regal were waiting. As Alex and Shadow neared the two, they picked up a heated argument.

Prism was talking. "Listen. You're a Ninetales, and I am not denying that you are attractive. What I am saying is that I am listed as the most beautiful species of Pokemon in the world, not you. It's not your fault; Milotic are just naturally better-looking."

Regal flicked his tails, and responded, "Fur is much warmer and more inviting than scales, and at least I don't become slimy. When you really think, you are just a fish, while I am a handsome and, dare I say it, _hot_ masterpiece."

"Well I - I am not slimy! I am the monarch of-"

Alex spoke over his arguing team mates, "Listening to you sounds like two teenage girls. Are you sure the two of you are male?"

Prism looked over, feigning haughtiness, saying, "I saw how much time you spent on your hair this morning. We are not alone."

Z-Ball took that moment to join in, having just extricated himself from the Silph Co.'s computers. "It's true. You spent 17.93 minutes on only your hair."

Shaking his head, Alex looked around and asked, "Where's Gira?"

His oldest team mate cantered over from around the building. "Right here. Did you get what you needed?"

Alex nodded. "We're close, guys. We'll succeed, you'll see. This will work." But the words sounded hollow and unsure, even to his ears.

Just Outside of Vermillion Bay

Tristan was currently unconscious, moving through the water only by the design of his Vaporeon, but he wasn't the only one. His Leafeon was lying on his chest, still sporting a nasty wound on its side, and Flareon had a badly broken leg. Espeon was in a coma, though she had felt all the horror of the past few weeks more strongly than most – few Psychic types had survived in the first place. Jolteon was sniping attacking Pokemon, but he knew he couldn't keep it up. He could only hope they reached the port in time…

?

She shook her head, avoiding some low hanging stalactites that hung around her head. She looked around her, monitoring the windows around her, each showing a different scene. "Things aren't moving fast enough. I thought you said there was a foundation in place?"

A giggle resounded through the cavern, as a bubbly voice replied, "I did, I did, I did! And there is! You just can't see it, cuz shhh…. It's a secret. Just be ready, cuz here they come!"


End file.
